Forum - View topicREVIEW: Accel World Blu-Ray
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Kaioshin_Sama
Posts: 1215 |
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Yes I realize that, I just had yet to find one I felt worked for me. Durarara and Baccano! admittedly are two shows that have been on my too watch list for what feels like forever and I just haven't gotten back around to them. Durarara I've watched 5 episodes of though and liked what I saw. I plan on getting to them both eventually. Accel World though is particularly special as an LN because Kuroyukihime completely changed my perception of moe female characters and what direction a show can take them which I know probably seems strange to some but people have to understand that I was coming at this from a total outsiders perspective as a person whose core interests largely lie with larger than life space opera mecha shows and gar characters doing gar things like I'm used to seeing from Sunrise so admittedly I was confused as hell as to why they picked this up before all was made clear in the first 4 episodes because when I saw this bishoujo girl in the promo art I thought I was in for something else entirely. Kuroyukihime was a strange character as though because without spoiling anything let's just say appearances can be deceiving on more levels than one and just when you think she can't get anymore awesome, she does and right up until the finale of the show too. I believe the phrase "silk hiding steel" is an appropriate qualifier for her character and it kind of broke me brain at certain points of the show. 
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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My thoughts exactly. Although I endured all the way to episode 18, the way the series glorifies virtual escapism vs facing your problems in real life was too much for me. Rebecca mentions how the series makes it look as if the Brain Bursters are somehow addicted to it and she's right, and my problem is that the show never even attempts to say that being a VR junkie isn't really a good thing. Also the way every character spends every breathing minute hating themselves and never showing the slightest hint of improving their self-esteem seemed too toxic to me. I just hated the series, and I don't regret dropping it at all. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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I'm not defending Accel World itself - I've not seen it. I'm defending that light novels in general. There are a TON of terrible light novels. In hunting for copies of Baccano! and Guin Saga at BookOff in Japan, I got to see a wide range of them, and yeah, a lot of 'em are dreadful, and it's possible that Accel World the anime is either based on a not-that-good one or is a lousy adaptation. But I also went hunting for copies of Yawara!, Cesare, and Aoi Hana, and there is an equal amount of awful, awful manga out there. I'd argue about the only medium that does intrinsically handicap a series are the bishoujo/bishounen games, with their blank protagonists (so that you can project yourself onto them!) and fawning supporting cast, and I'm sure that even there people will correct me and give a title of a decent game+adaptation. It's also not surprising that the worst light novels and manga series are the ones that try to follow the model of these games... There does seem to be a trend in recent seasons of anime to adapt way more light novels, which I think goes along with what I've read from Azuma and other social critics, that light novels are gradually becoming the chief outlet of otaku culture, for whatever reason. Or maybe it's easier to get the rights to adapt them, I don't know. I would personally love to see further adaptations of the three titles I mentioned, mostly because thus far there's no sign of them ever getting official translations into English (or any more translations, since Guin Saga stopped less than 5% into the story). |
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1791 |
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Thinking back to when I was watching the streams I generally liked this show (I definitely made more of an effort to watch this weekly than SAO after their 3rd episodes) but I think it has a few nuisances that rub me the wrong way for me to want to buy it (especially with what happens in later episodes) Maybe I'll finish it from where I dropped it someday.
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Kaioshin_Sama
Posts: 1215 |
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I think a particular antagonists story in the second half tackles that issue albeit somewhat hamfistedly. I'll never understand why some people got so completely put off by this show and disagree that all it is is characters hating themselves and when we do get those scenes it actually bothers to show us why they are feeling that way. I totally understand that there's a sizeable crowd in the community that thinks this sort of thing is never okay at any point in a show and everyone has to be an emotional rock by a certain point in the narrative or it'll really piss these people off and I get why that would let to particular hatred the MC for having some huge emotional issues and being overweight (IT amuses me the degree to which some people absolutely reviled this character for his design), but I wouldn't hold that against the show. The characters have their own personal struggles that are pretty well fleshed out (i.e Chiyu lamenting that her and Taku are growing apart, Taku trying to balance the huge expectations placed on him of being a Kendo champion and doing well in his prep school and succumbing to the temptation of Brain Burst to balance his life out, KYH having issues controlling her own ambitious nature/bloodlust and worrying it might jeopardize her relationship with Haru), there's a fair bit of getting beaten down and picking oneself back up again, but there's also a fit bit of growth in the entire cast that I felt was lacking from this shows sister series Sword Art Online. I don't think it's true whatsoever that all the characters do is spend time emoing over things, to me saying that is a sure sign that somebody didn't actually follow the show all that much or is cherry picking aspects of it they didn't enjoy to talk about cause while it has some of that self-loathing stuff that's not even close to the shows entire "emotional content".
Not really what the show is about.... 
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ReverseTitan
 Posts: 109 Location: Hong Kong |
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At least ADR companies in LA know how to write accurate/literal scripts. Texas companies have some of the most messed up, inconsistent scripts ever. Not to mention, dubs from Texas suffer from inconsistencies and vary WILDLY in acting quality. Let's not forget Steve Foster, shall we? Kaeko Sakamoto, a little Japanese woman can direct dubs far superior than anything Foster comes up with. Even Makoto Shinkai and friends disliked the old dub of 2cm(which is saying a lot) and co-produced a new one with Bang Zoom and now that dub has overwrited the older dub. Same with Mari Okada, another little Japanese woman. I think this may be due to the Japanese community in LA, but LA dubs are just so much better structured than dubs from Texas. Outside of Baccano, what dub has Texas done which is close to the Japanese script? And that's only script. Let's not bring in talent pool, the fact that LA VAs study the original VAs(not like that should matter, but every detail helps), etc. |
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My Name's Not Rick!
Posts: 29 |
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Sup YamadaKun, how's it hanging? |
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ReverseTitan
Posts: 109 Location: Hong Kong |
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Who the fudge is YamadaKun? |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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What's interesting is that there's an OVA that actually speaks to that exact issue. (whether it is done in a way that makes it better or worse is entirely up to the opinion of the viewer) But one thing I found really interesting about the way the OVA approaches it is it has an interesting perspective on how it affects kuroyuki-hime's insecurities when he does this. I've honestly been a little surprised that altho its an obvious "wish-fulfillment" story, that it hasn't gotten a better reception if ONLY because it features a short, fat protagonist. |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6258 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Read this. If you are the same person, but somehow created a new account and a different IP address to bypass an IP address ban and using the same antic and ranting as Yamadakun, Chang Wufei, MentalMachine, etc... then you're not going to prove anything. |
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Divineking
 Posts: 1293 |
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If anything that's probably why people (unforutunently) prefer SAO. Why see some of yourself in Haru when you can fantasize about being a Gary Stu like Kirito instead?
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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That's a pretty major "also". I'm sure there are good LNs out there. And 90% of everything is crap. But so long as they continue to predominately serve as a "medium" for otaku bait I'm gonna go ahead and look at their adaptations with a great deal of skepticism until shown otherwise. That's just good inductive reasoning. |
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jojothepunisher
 Posts: 799 |
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Well only the second and third paragraph seemed like in-depth analysis of the show, the other paragraphs seemed more like a regular review. While we are on the topic of literary analysis, I think ANN should have a weekly column that discusses themes, symbolisms, or English-essay-stuffs about an anime. I think a lot of people are interested in discussing this sort of things because anime has changed recently to have more shows that are smart and well-written (some very obvious examples are PMMM and Fate/Zero). If you guys decide to do that, then I vote you to be the columnist! |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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You know, all of "90% of everything is crap" thing means you adhere to video game ratings. If it's not 9.5+, it's shit, ignoring that works fill an entire spectrum ranging from absolute garbage to perfection, with most things falling into a happy medium of mediocrity and average-ness. I can enjoy a 6/10 anime without having to resort to calling it shit because it wasn't an 8/10. Even 4s and 5s out of 10 aren't total condemnations, unless you believe in the pure mediocre being worse than the worst.
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Well, yeah, but most anime follows more otaku sensibilities. If it's on late at night, which most anime is, they're targeting the nerd crowd who buys the DVDs. The kind of manga that get adapted also tend to be those that they think will sell with otaku, and to a lesser extent fujoshi. The original projects that get made also tend to be what they think will sell with otaku, and to a lesser estent fujoshi. If that's the attitude you take, then treat all anime with a great deal of skepticism. |
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